Because creating a new thread for each person or every time we update the version of the game we're running or something was become daft and using a lot of new threads. So anyone can post here! \o/

Main reason I'm making this post is because I finally downloaded 0.18.4 (which has been the most recent version since early February because I'm super behind) and installed a bunch of mods and will be playing again shortly.

For reference, the mods I'm using:

MechJeb - It's a kind of multi-purpose mod for flight assistance and auto-piloting and whatnot. It makes life a lot simpler, despite some scorn because it makes things easier too. I'm making things more difficult for myself, so this is to balance it out. Also I <3 MechJeb.

RemoteTech - Make life difficult for myself! You can set up satellite networks and whatnot but unless you have a network that can connect you to ground control your unmanned vessels will be totally out of control. And other stuffs.

Protractor - A read out thingy which tells you the angles between your ship and the planet you're orbiting and the planet you want to get to and so on because interplanetary travel is really fucking difficult.

Haystack - Makes it easier to select things in map view because this is still technically an alpha and Squad need to fix some shit.

Sub-Assembly Saver Loader - Lets you save parts of whatever you're making so you can load them easily and, for example, load the same launch vehicle without having to rebuild it from scratch and just change your payload.

Chatterer - What I'm thinking might be a new personal favourite if it works well. It adds nonsensical radio chatter between your crews and Mission Control randomly and beeps from your probes and so on.

Huojin wrote:MechJeb - It's a kind of multi-purpose mod for flight assistance and auto-piloting and whatnot. It makes life a lot simpler, despite some scorn because it makes things easier too. I'm making things more difficult for myself, so this is to balance it out. Also I <3 MechJeb.

Bad news anyway - MechJeb is playing up, which is really pretty irritating. Like, I've done standard Kerbin orbits and orbital circularisations to death. Do I really need to do them again every time? >_>

Hmm. Return with SRBs shouldn't be too hard. You just need enough to generate 800 m/s of thrust to escape the Mun plus a little extra burn time to sort out a Kerbin intercept. I'd probably do like a central column with 4 SRBs firing one by one for the return stage, so I could shed extra ones safely if I have too much delta V.

Otherwise, just like, spread out your craft so you have a greater surface area and a lower centre of gravity.

Also, given the failure of MechJeb, I've just decided to leave it installed so I can have information read outs on some stuff (still useful) but otherwise just fly manually.

We’re happy to announce a new release of KSP. This update was a bit of a turning point in our usual way of doing things. These are the most important new features:

* Linux Support:
There is now a native Linux version of KSP! Official support for Ubuntu 12.04, but it should work on most distributions.

* Atmospheric Effects:
Watch your spacecraft flare up as they re-enter the atmosphere, and produce vapor trails during high-speed flight.

* New Kerbal Animations:
The Kerbals got a massive overhaul on their facial expressions! The new Expressions system uses the new Mecanim animation engine from Unity, giving Kerbals a lot more expressiveness. Watch their faces distort in total panic or gleeful joy, now also when you’re out on EVA.

* Rover Wheels:
Drive across the surface of other worlds with the new rover wheel parts, which are steerable and self-powered. Construct anything from tiny unmanned rovers, to exploration buggies, to huge mobile contraptions.

* Graphical and Scenery Improvements
We’ve got a New Launchpad model at KSC, with 100% less launch tower, a new Runway, and much improved night-time lighting, making for greatly improved visuals, especially at night.

* More New Parts
We’ve added several new parts for general construction. Featuring panels, girders, and a lot more!

So yeah. Re-installing the game and my mods and beginning again. Still, at least it happened now, rather than much later.

My new network, I'm hoping will go up much more quickly. I'm setting up a tug to take 3 satellites at the same time to geostationary orbit, release them all above Mission Control, and then space them out evenly at 120 degree intervals so I have full coverage.

Err. I haven't actually gotten around to docking anything since they incorporated genuine docking instead of plugin-powered docking. I'm not 100% certain. Are you having trouble getting the ships to meet?

So I changed my mind on a bunch of stuff because my plugins were fucking with how the game ran. MechJeb 2 is out, so I included that, mainly to see how it behaves. RemoteTech is also gone, because it was being screwy. 0.19 eliminated the need for CleverBobCat rover parts, and I ditched Haystack and Sub-Assembly. Plus I added a plugin/mod that gives you robotic arms like the one on the ISS. It's pretty cool. Plus when I start building stations it'll be handy.

In the meantime, here's Chollima I, name provided by Smyg, a tiny satellite doing a polar orbit North-to-South, mapping as it goes. When it's done I'll go check out some anomalies with planes and whatnot.

Two launches in quick succession? What? Yeah, but Quevedo I (name from Spanish poet via OYID) is basically a Sputnik replica in a 75km equatorial orbit for no real reason except the planet looks weird with nothing there at the moment. So yeah!

The launch vehicle is jettisoned just behind it. The satellite doesn't have any solar panels or engines or batteries on board, just the probe module itself, so it'll probably have run out of power by the time I'm done writing this. But that's the point!